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Public Toilets
Post Office
Cash Point
Church
Historic Wall Plaques
Traffic flow
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Supermarket
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Grove
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Playing Field
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Visitor Information Centre
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Market Drayton
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Medical
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To A53 & A529
to Audlem
Market Drayton
Town Trail
Around Market Drayton
Crewe
Nantwich
M6
A41
Bangor-on-Dee
Newcastleunder-lyme
Audlem
Welcome to Market Drayton!
Stoke-on-Trent
A525
Whitchurch
A53
A529
Ellesmere
Loggerheads
A41
The Battle of
Blore Heath (1459)
Market Drayton
A49
A528
Market Drayton – Shropshire
Union Canal
A519
A53
Stafford
Shawbury
Newport
M6
A5
Shrewsbury
(10 minutes walk from Town Centre )
Penkridge
A41
Wellington
A5
The 'Shropshire Union Main Line' was one of the
last canals to be built. It was originally named the
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, which
shows that it was built for long-distance traffic rather
than local. The canal was designed and built by the
famous Scottish born engineer, Thomas Telford who
made his name in Shropshire. It opened in 1835,
just two years before the railway from Liverpool and
Manchester to Birmingham was opened a few miles
to the east.
Cannock
A5
Telford
M54
Market Drayton Visitor
Information Centre
49 Cheshire Street, Market Drayton
Shropshire, TF9 1PH
Tel: 01630 653114
Email: [email protected]
Lovely towpath walks from Market Drayton to Tyrley
Locks about a mile and a half (2.5 kilometres) each
way. Most of it is on firm ground, though some parts
can be a bit muddy after rain. Tyrley Locks is a
group of five locks dropping 33 feet through a
delightful sandstone cutting.
Acknowledgements:
With grateful thanks to the late Carol Chapman for her
help in compiling this guide and to Beryl Feeley,
Roy Payne and Alistair Duncan.
Thanks to Bernard Beekes, Sheila Halsall, Shropshire
Council and Shropshire Tourism for the photography.
Produced by Shropshire Tourism on behalf of
Market Drayton Community Partnership, with funding
support from The Portas Pilot Scheme.
Market Drayton
“Draitune” was originally a Saxon settlement and
appeared in the Domesday Book. In the thirteenth
century, the town was granted a charter to hold
a market on a Wednesday. As a result, the name
changed to Market Drayton and there continues to
be a flourishing market, to this day! From Spring
2013 a Saturday market will also be held.
Start your trail at the south end
of Cheshire Street next to the
Buttercross.
y Grammar School
g The Red House
In 1555, Sir
Rowland Hill, the
first protestant
Mayor of London,
founded the
Grammar School.
The 11 year old
Robert Clive
attended the
school in 1737
before eventually
going on to a distinguished military career in India
where he gained his reputation as ‘Clive of India’.
This once belonged to Captain William Wilkinson who
served on the frigate Sirius at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Continue past the Grammar School. St Mary’s is on
your right.
u Saint
Mary’s
q Buttercross
A church has stood on
these sandstone cliffs
for over a thousand
years! It was extensively
restored in 1884. Inside
the church, you will find
the tomb of Thomas
and Elizabeth Bulkeley
distant relatives of three
presidents of the United
States; Calvin Coolidge,
George Bush and
George W Bush!
The Buttercross lies at the head of the historic centre of
the town, which has held a market here since Medieval
times... The market included grain, cattle, dairy and
general produce. The Buttercross itself was built in
1824 to enable farmers’ wives to display and sell their
wares under cover. On the top of the building in the
middle of the roof, is the old fire bell, used to summon
the Fire Engine!
With your back to the main thoroughfare on Cheshire
Street, walk to the left of the Buttercross, into the
open space of the Town Square. On your left is The
Crown.
w The Crown
i Saint Mary’s view
This is one of the rare
survivors of the Great
Fire of 1651 which
destroyed 140 houses
in the centre of town.
Tradition tells us that
Charles I spent a night in this hotel in 1645.
From the churchyard you can look over the Tern Valley
and glimpse Pell Wall Hall, built in 1822 and designed
by the same architect who designed the Bank of
England – Sir John Soane!
Walk down the High Street. On your left, you will see
the Corbet Arms.
Now turn back to the junction of Shropshire Street
and Frogmore Road. Walk down the left of Frogmore
Road, where you will soon see Festival Drayton.
h Festival Drayton
The Festival Drayton Centre is a superb venue for local
events owned and run by the community of Market
Drayton. The Centre houses a state of the art digital
cinema, cafeteria, art gallery and function rooms and
is open daily. It was honoured as the Best /Regional
Winner of the West Midlands Market Town Awards in
2006 in recognition of the most outstanding Market
Towns’ Project.
Leave the Church by the main gate and go straight
down St Mary’s Street. At the end of the street, look
to your right and you will
see The Tudor House.
o Tudor House
e Corbet Arms
Once an important coaching Inn, for over two hundred
years The Corbet Arms was one of the major meeting
places in the town, including being the equivalent of
the County Court right up to Victorian times. Thomas
Telford stayed here when he came to inspect the
Shropshire Union Canal.
The Damson Fair was held in the High Street and
flourished in the mid 1800s as the Lancashire mill
owners bought the local damsons to use as a dye.
Apparently, the King of Nepal, hosting a banquet in
London sent to Market Drayton for two hundredweight of the fruit to contribute to a favourite recipe for
damson chutney!
Continue down the High Street. After a few paces you
will see the Red Lion and Joules Brewery on your left.
r Joules
Brewery
The Red Lion
was originally a
Joule’s house
and like most
of the medieval
town centre it
sits over Market
Drayton’s Aquifer,
the water source for the ales. The pub dates back to
1623 and has been restored to encompass the new
brewery which has been built behind the ancient pub.
Tours available
t Clive Steps
With your back to the front of the Red Lion, cross
the road to find Clive Steps. Named after a former
pupil of the Grammar School, they will take you to the
Grammar School itself.
At the top of the steps, on your left is the old Grammar
School.
As you leave Festival Drayton, cross the road and
walk to the right of the car-park, then under a
covered walkway. You are now back in Cheshire
Street with the Buttercross on your right!
One of the finest buildings
in Market Drayton, the
Tudor house was re-built
after the fire of 1651.
With your back to St
Mary’s Street, go left
along Shropshire Street.
Fairly soon you will see a
relatively small black and
white timbered building. This is the Abbott’s House
a Sandbrook Vaults
Sandbrook Vaults (built in 1653) can be found
next door to the Tudor House. It has recently been
refurbished by Joules Brewery.
s Cotton’s House
Cottons House, built around 1600 on land granted
to the Cotton family by Henry VIII, has recently been
refurbished.
d 41 Shropshire Street
Sometimes known as the Old House, it was built at the
turn of the 18th century and was one of the first brick
built houses in the town. It was carefully restored in
1975 and received a European Architectural Award.
f The Abbott’s House
Next to the Red
House, this halftimbered building is
about 350 years old
and was reputedly
used by the Abbott
of Combermere on
his visits to Market
Drayton.
Further along from
the Abbott’s House
is the Red House.
Historic Wall Plaques
Look out for the plaques dotted around
the town that will give you further
information about Market Drayton.
These are marked with a red dot on
the map overleaf.
Corbet Arms, High Street
Rylands House, Great Hales Street
The Shambles, Cheshire Street
Tudor House, Cheshire Street
Gingerbread Café, Cheshire
Cheese Inn, Cheshire Street
(Mincher-Lockett Opticians)
Market Drayton Theatre,
Stafford Street (near Barnetts)
Buttercross, Cheshire Street
Manchester & Liverpool Bank, Cheshire Street
(NatWest)
Town Hall, Cheshire Street (Library)
Old Court House, Cheshire Street (Warren, Upton &
Garside)
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Frogmore Road
Chesters Prize Gingerbread, 20
Shropshire Street (Blandfords)
Poynton House, Shropshire
Street
House of the Poor, Shropshire
Street (Old Armoury)
75 Shropshire Street
Mount Lane School
Cottons House,
Shropshire Street